In the final night-time practice for the 29th Motul Petit Le Mans, the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 and championship contender Laurin Heinrich set the fastest lap around Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, just as they did earlier this afternoon in Practice 2.
Heinrich set a 1:11.643 to lead Practice 3, a second slower than his fastest time from the afternoon, but still nearly four-tenths up on the next-fastest car.
The two Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06es finished second and third, led by Tom Blomqvist in the #60, ahead of Nick Yelloly in the #93. Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R and Sheldon van der Linde in the #24 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8 were fourth and fifth in GTP.
Kévin Estre in the #6 Penske Porsche 963 was seventh, but Estre was also involved in a collision that brought out the only red flag of the session. The Frenchman made contact with the #73 Pratt Miller Motorsports ORECA LMP2 down at the turn 10 complex, leaving both damaged and the #73 stranded long enough for Race Control to throw a red flag.
The #6 Porsche was given a 60-second stop and hold penalty served after it was repaired; it will lose its fastest lap in Qualifying tomorrow. Meanwhile the championship-leading #31 Whelen Cadillac was mired down in ninth spot.
LMP2 was led by AO Racing, this time with Rockie the Pegasus standing in for Spike the Dragon. The #99 AO Racing ORECA 07-Gibson set a 1:13.145 in the hands of its Designated Silver, Jonny Edgar.
In second was the #43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA (Tom Dillmann) followed by the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA (Alex Quinn).
Daniel Goldburg had better luck tonight when he was sideswiped by the #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie entering turn 10A – it took some time for Goldburg to find his way back on track, but he and the #22 United Autosports USA ORECA, repaired after Goldburg’s crash in Practice 2, were able to resume running.
Fastest in GTD Pro was recent Formula 2 departure Nico Varrone in the #4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R, who hadn’t missed a beat in his first IMSA race in seven months – as he set a 1:19.527.
Fellow F2 alum Max Esterson was second in the #59 RLL Team McLaren 720S GT3, and Ben Barnicoat was third-quickest in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3.
GTD title contender Robby Foley led the class with a 1:19.881 in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO; Vasser Sullivan’s #12 Lexus was second in the hands of Benjamin Pedersen, and Tom Sargent was third in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Elsewhere in GTD, Felipe Fraga in the #16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford ran what had to be a scary lap around Road Atlanta with no headlights after an electrical issue popped up in the Mustang.
On-track action from Road Atlanta has concluded for the evening, and Qualifying for Petit Le Mans starts tomorrow afternoon at 2:20 PM ET (local time).
Images © Jack Webster / Dailysportscar.com
